Over the weekend, one of the most prominent Democrat lawmakers from Illinois was sentenced to prison for corruption. Michael J. Madigan, who remained the speaker of the IL State House for over 35 years, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison along with a $2.5 million fine for engaging in bribery and influence peddling for nearly a decade.
A lifelong Democrat whose political career spans nearly fifty years, Madigan was the Speaker of IL State House from 1983 to 2021, with the exception of 1995 to 1997. He also remained the chairman of the Democratic Party in IL from 1998 to 2021. His career and reputation ended in infamy, however, as he was indicted in 2022 over federal racketeering charges. As reported in Breitbart (February 12, 2025), Madigan was indicted for participating in “a string of bribery and influence peddling schemes.”
In February this year, Madigan was found guilty of ten counts out of the 23 federal corruption charges filed against him. The Chicago Sun Times reported (February 13) that Madigan’s bribery conviction involved ComEd, the largest electric utility in Illinois. The story wrote:
The jury agreed that Madigan conspired to have ComEd officials pay $1.3 million to his allies over eight years so that he would look favorably at ComEd’s legislation in Springfield.
In addition, the jury found Madigan guilty of a plot to install ex-Ward Alderman Danny Solis on a state board; in return, Solis would help secure private business for Madigan’s law firm.
Madigan is now 83, and his fellow Democrat lawmakers, his former colleagues, came up with the perfect response to deflect embarrassment over their senior leader’s conviction for corruption. They repeated the same line, saying that it shows the system works and those abusing their offices are held accountable.
But Madigan is not the only Democrat lawmaker who made news last week for engaging in corruption using his office. Another top Democrat from the State Senate also made a few headlines for breaking the law in making money. President of the State Senate Don Harmon is facing a penalty of about $10 million for illegally accepting some big campaign donations. The Chicago Tribune reported that Harmon took more than $4 million in campaign contributions on top of the amount in donations allowed under campaign finance law that, ironically, Harmon himself championed years ago.
The story added that shortly before the state election officials informed Harmon of the penalty, he tried to pass new legislation that would “wipe away the election board case and the potential penalties,” an attempt failed by bipartisan opposition to his move.
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Author: Ernest Dempsey
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